Into the Water (Hawkins) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
It’s a set-up that is redolent with possibility. But that promising start fails to deliver, and the main reason is structural. The story of Into the Water is carried by 11 narrative voices. To differentiate 11 separate voices within a single story is a fiendishly difficult thing. And these characters are so similar in tone and register – even when some are in first person and others in third – that they are almost impossible to tell apart, which ends up being both monotonous and confusing.
Val McDermid - Guardian (UK)

Hawkins is back with a second thriller, Into the Water. Many of the elements that helped propel The Girl on the Train are present here…[but] something’s amiss in this second novel: It’s stagnant rather than suspenseful.… The revelations about her sister’s life and death produce but a ripple in Jules’s day-to-day life.… [A] dull disappointment.
Maureen Corrigan - Washington Post


Hawkins is at the forefront of a group of female authors—think Gillian Flynn and Megan Abbott—who have reinvigorated the literary suspense novel by tapping a rich vein of psychological menace and social unease.… [T]here’s a certain solace to a dark escape, in the promise of submerged truths coming to light.
Vogue


Addicting… this novel has a little something for anyone looking for their next binge-read.
Marie Claire


Hawkins keeps you guessing until the final page.
Real Simple


Paula Hawkins is back with a brand-new thriller about a string of mysterious deaths. You’ll burn through this one!
People Style Watch


Beckford history is dripping with women who’ve thrown themselves—or been pushed?—off the cliffs into the Drowning Pool, and everyone…knows more than they’re letting on. Hawkins may be juggling a few too many story lines for comfort, but the payoff packs a satisfying punch.
Publishers Weekly


Hawkins guides readers through a muddled labyrinth of twists and turns, secrets and lies, and misdirections that will ultimately reveal the sordid details of three deaths before its surprising conclusion.… [For] fans of twisty thrillers. —Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Hawkins returns to the rotating-narration style of her breakout debut, giving voice to an even broader cast this time.
Booklist


[E]ven after you've managed to untangle all the willfully misleading information, half-baked subplots, and myriad characters, you're going to have a tough time keeping it straight.… Let's call it sophomore slump and hope for better things.
Kirkus Reviews